Temporary tattoo applicators are used to non-permanently decorate skin, hair, clothing, toys or other subjects. Subjects are decorated with temporary tattoos by transferring an image from the temporary tattoo to the subject of interest. Applying temporary tattoos is known to be a source of entertainment, amusement, and artistic expression.
Traditional tattoos are images made by applying permanent pigments under the skin, or by raising scars on the skin. Thus, traditional tattoos are essentially permanent, being removable, if at all, only through complicated medical procedures. In view of this technical definition of the word “tattoo,” the use of the word in the present disclosure is somewhat of a misnomer because the disclosed applicators are directed to applying non-permanent images. It is believed, however, that it has become accepted in the trade to refer to various skin decorations as tattoos, even if they are not permanent. Throughout the disclosure, temporary tattoos or decals will generally be used, but the use of tattoos alone may also be used with the understanding that the present disclosure is directed to non-permanent tattoos.
Tattoos and other skin decorations long have fascinated both children and adults, but often are avoided because of the permanence of the resulting image. Accordingly, temporary tattoos have been developed, including those applied as an ink transfer, a stamp, and a decal. Further, computer printable temporary tattoos are known in the art.
Examples of temporary tattoos and temporary tattoo applicators include U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,862, U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,357, U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,328, U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,772, U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,864, U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,618, U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,773, U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,107, U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,067, U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,962, U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,765, U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,098, U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,353, U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,692, U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,859, U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,946, U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,011, U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,185, U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,832, U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,411, U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,797, U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,319, U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,580, U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,394, U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,673, U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,786, U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,088, U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,882, U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,221 and U.S. Pat. No. 732,903; U.S. Patent Publication Nos. US20050011378 and US20070292344; and Japanese Patent No. JP2007152931. The complete disclosures of the above patents and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference for all purposes.